The dreaded writers block!

One of the hardest things a writer has to do is to fill a blank page. To start a story and make it so believable that the reader feels they become a part of the novel, is a writer’s greatest challenge. There are so many websites out there with good advice on how to defeat writer’s block, but Robin and I wanted to share our technique for successfully getting our creative ideas on paper.

When you first stare at an empty sheet, it can seem pretty intimidating, but one way to avoid a block is to first spend a little time thinking about the story. Gather your thoughts and write down anything that comes to mind. Let it ruminate, or as Julie likes to say, put it on the back burner so the flavors all merge. My personal best writing time is while taking my morning shower. If nothing else, I come up with great scenes that we can, and do, use in other stories. Julie writes down every idea for one of our storylines. Whether it’s a quote that we may use later, a scene that might be added during editing, or just a random idea on how to warp the story into another genre. Yes. That really happens; we have started out with a romance story only to have it turn into a scary tale with just a touch of romance!

We are both firm believers that all ideas need to go down on paper before they are lost. It has been our experience that by keeping a notebook handy, you can always generate new ideas. Just keep jotting down those “what if” ideas. It doesn’t matter if it has been used in a current or future book, just write everything down.

We have also found that if you are having problems with dialogue, just saying those words out loud can help you to improve the flow and realism of the conversation. Just make sure no one else is around, or you will get really strange looks - especially from the dog!

Another way to defeat writers block is simply to list book plots that sound interesting to you. Write the type of book that you enjoy reading. We literally generate a dozen new plot ideas each week. We toss the ideas around between the two of us, until we have a plot line that we both enjoy. But don’t get rid of those old rejected plot ideas, because you never know when you can change them or make them work for another book.

Once the storyline is initiated, one of us will start writing the bare bones version of the story, which initially runs about 50-100 pages. Then we go through and fill in the details and the magic of a true story begins.

If you enjoyed this piece, please follow Robin Woods and Julie Brookshier on Twitter @GraceWillows201.